Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer

When attempting to install a new OS from CD or DVD you get this message in the initial setup screen:

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer

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Solution

Set Your SATA Controller to Compatability/IDE/Standard Mode

1. Enter your BIOS/Setup Utility
2. Locate the Serial ATA or SATA configuration section
   • I’ve seen this section called ‘On Chip Config’ on some Phoenix Award BIOS
   • On Lenovo/IBM ThinkPads it’s in Config > Serial ATA (Sata)
3. Change the mode of the SATA controller from AHCI to IDE or Compatibility
4. Save & Exit
5. Reboot and begin the Windows Setup again.
6. If Windows Setup successfully detects your hard disk this time then go ahead and perform the Windows Setup.
7. When Windows setup completes change the mode back to AHCI in the BIOS